DB Edmunds to Release 'Lifes Wild Ride' EP

DB Edmunds' gift for guitar-pop alchemy has long been celebrated by fans of his Chapel Hill, NC-based bands Gladhands and The Stars Explode - in 2020, Matthew Sweet dug the latter's song "Matthew Sweet" so much, he wrote and recorded "Stars Explode" in response. And now, with Life's Wild Ride, his first-ever solo release, Edmunds further explores the magic that results when winning melodies, killer riffs, thoughtful lyrics and kaleidoscopic instrumental tones collide. Life's Wild Ride will be released on September 9th.

A six-song EP co-produced with John Plymale (Meat Puppets, Superchunk, The dB's), Life's Wild Ride finds Edmunds reaching further across the musical spectrum than he ever has before. There's the hard-rocking romance of "Side By Side," and the soulful, comfort-in-nature reverie of "Wait for the Rain".

There's the brooding, Beatle-esque "I Don't Trust Love," and the jangly, atmospheric modern pop of "Higher Ground". On "The One True Thing," driving chords and an exultant "Woo Hoo!" chorus clash vividly with dystopian lyrics, while the closing "You and I" builds from vulnerable acoustic meditation to cathartic full-band crescendo. Through it all, Edmunds' winning vocals and ace melodic sensibilities serve as the unifying element.

Life's Wild Ride's musical expansiveness also underlines the loose theme running through its songs - namely, the volatility of existence. Back in October 2019, when Edmunds entered Durham, NC's Overdub Lane to begin laying down tracks with Plymale, he figured that it would take less than a year to complete and release the record. However, the COVID-19 pandemic intervened, as did some unexpected challenges in Edmunds' own life; but while it all wound up delaying Life's Wild Ride by nearly two years, the passage of time also imbued the songs with a deeper emotional resonance.

"It's not a 'COVID album,' per se, but I went through a ton of upheaval personally," Edmunds explains. "I went through a divorce, I fell in love again, my kids were struggling with their own things, and of course there was all the other stuff everyone was dealing with - hence the title Life's Wild Ride. There's a Billy Bragg quote that has always stuck with me: 'Life's a bit like peanut butter, you have to learn to take the crunchy with the smooth.'

Though Edmunds played most of the instruments on the original tracks - with drummer Alan McGinty and bassist Roger Gupton also contributing to a pair of songs apiece - the project expanded in scope once Edmunds brought his old pal Brian Dennis in to help out. "He's a super-talented guy; he moved away from Chapel Hill/Carrboro and became a touring guitarist," Edmunds recalls. "But when he came back we reconnected, and I thought, 'If I can get Brian involved, it'd be great!' Little did I know that he was gonna do as much as he did...the basic tracks had my fingerprints all over them, the foundations were all there, but Brian just really lifted it. He was sort of my Jon Brion, my ace in the hole."

The opening rocker "Side by Side" explodes out of the gate with some decidedly old-school swagger. The song also gives Life's Wild Ride its title - as Edmunds says, "It's about making your way through life with somebody, 'side by side through life's wild ride.' I didn't know at the time what I was going to call the record, but that phrase just sort of leaped out at me."

"I Don't Trust Love," the most Beatle-esque track on the record, examines the elemental and unpredictable nature of amor. "I wrote this song when the person I was dating at the time was overseas, and it was kind of like, 'I trust you while you're away, and I trust myself, but I don't trust love,'" he recalls.

Edmunds describes the ringing "The One True Thing" as "the most power-pop song on the record - but lyrically, it's all about the dystopia we've all been living in, with Trumpism and COVID and how fed up the whole world is. Sonically, it's this bright, sunshine-y tune; but then if you dig in and listen to the lyrics, it's pretty dark."

But after the darkness of "The One True Thing," Life's Wild Ride closes on a guardedly optimistic note with the romantic "You And I". "This one wasn't written about anybody in particular," Edmunds explains. "I was between relationships at the time. I was feeling sort of vulnerable, but also hopeful. I think it has a Chris Bell kind of thing - that kind of big, crashing, almost orchestral thing - though it starts out very hushed.

"Life's Wild Ride is maybe not as cohesive a piece of work as I've done with Gladhands or even Stars Explode," Edmunds concludes, "but that was kind of by design. I'd say it's the influence of Paul Weller - I've always loved how he's always stretching and not giving a damn what style or mode he's in at any given moment. It just felt so liberating to make a record that way!"

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